History UsefulNotes / TheHouseOfNormandy

He married Matilda of Flanders, at least in part to secure his northeastern border and shore up his English credentials (she counted top Anglo-Saxon king UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat as an ancestor); she spurned the bastard duke at first, leading to [[WouldHitAGirl William allegedly throwing her off her horse by her hair and pimp-slapping her]]. [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim She agreed to marry him immediately afterwards]], defying a papal ban to do so. Their marriage was not only a political success but also a personal one. They truly loved each other unlike most other royal couples throughout history and she became a dutiful and reliable partner to him. She bore him four sons which shored up his reign and was entrusted to rule in his stead for him while he was away. Despite his descendants' reputation for licentiousness, it would seem he remained faithful to her throughout the roughly thirty years they were married. There is no record of him having a single mistress or bastard child. Her death four years before his own is said to have devastated him.

Which, of course, combined with the forces of Mercia and Northumbria being cut to pieces at Fulford, depleted his forces and them completely winded when it came for William's own subsequent invasion – which as luck (or divine providence) would have it, followed almost instantly on the heels of Stamford Bridge, as the winds in the Channel finally turned and swept his fleet across to the south coast of England. Harold, probably not believing his ears, promptly cobbled his army back into shape, swung them around and marched them right back down the country again: 241 miles (388 km) in a mere five days. Heroically, they managed to engage the Norman army almost straight off the boats, at the Battle of Hastings – and, astonishingly, almost ''won''. Famously, at the crucial moment of greatest English initiative, William was driven back and feared lost – until, in a classic ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated moment, he raised the visor of his helmet to show his face and rally his troops.

He married Matilda of Flanders, at least in part to secure his northeastern border and shore up his English credentials (she counted top Anglo-Saxon king UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat as an ancestor); she spurned the bastard duke at first, leading to [[WouldHitAGirl William throwing her off her horse by her hair and pimp-slapping her]]. [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim She agreed to marry him immediately afterwards]], defying a papal ban to do so. Unlike many of his descendants, there is no record of William having mistresses or illegitimate children, and her death four years before his own seemed to have shaken him quite badly.

Fun fact: Every [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates American President]] is provably descended from William the Conqueror--[[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes, even]] UsefulNotes/BarackObama (as well as 33% of people in the world with British ancestry).[[note]]Obama's descent from William is less surprising given that his mother was thoroughly Anglo-American. The real surprise is that UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren--a Dutch-American with no recent ancestry from the British Isles--was descended from the Conqueror. (Significantly, Van Buren and UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower are the only presidents whose descent from William the Conqueror is not traced through UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland.)[[/note]]

Fun fact: Every [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates American President]] is descended from William the Conqueror--[[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes, even]] UsefulNotes/BarackObama (as well as 33% of people in the world with British ancestry).

Count of Blois, nephew of Henry and grandson of William I, he had an elder brother who luckily did not want to be a contender to the throne, which made Stephen (''Etienne'') the closest male candidate. He was nearly killed in the sinking of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ship the White Ship]], which claimed Henry's only legitimate son, but left the ship before it sailed because--according to the chronicler Oderic Vitalis--he had [[PottyEmergency a sudden bout of diarrhoea]]. Proclaimed himself king upon Henry's death, claiming the latter had changed his mind about his intended heir, and was given the support of most of the barons in a peaceful start to the reign.

Daughter of Henry I and his chosen heir — hence de jure (“by law”). Known as Empress Matilda from a previous marriage to [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire Holy Roman Emperor]] Henry V, she is sometimes called the Empress Maud or Maude, since at the time Maud and Matilda were considered the same name. She was an unpopular choice for ruler not only because of her [[HeirClubForMen sex]], but because her current husband Geoffrey of Anjou was from a powerful French house who were the traditional enemies and rivals of the Dukes of Normandy. Was aided in her fight by her half brother (and past claimant), the illegitimate Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the eldest of Henry's bastards and a powerful captain and nobleman. Such was his importance to her fight that after her forces captured Stephen she later had to trade her rival back in return for Robert when he too was captured.

Normandy (French: ''Normandie'') is a [[UsefulNotes/DepartementalIssues region]] of north-west UsefulNotes/{{France}}, given by the French King in the 9th century to a group of [[UsefulNotes/TheVikingAge Viking]] raiders to settle in. It takes its name from these settlers ("North Men" -> "Norman" -> Normandy). The first Duke of Normandy was a man named Rollo (''Hrólfr'' in his native tongue, Old Norse), a Norse[[note]]Nobody's quite sure where exactly in Scandinavia Rollo was from. A common hypothesis is that he was from UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}}, which would make some sense, as there is little question that the bulk of his companions came from Denmark. However, there is some evidence he might have been [[UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} Norwegian]]. What's clear is that when they arrived in France, the Normans were spaking East Old Norse--root of the same branch of the North Germanic tree as Danish and Swedish, as opposed to the West Old Norse that gave rise to modern Norwegian and Icelandic. So even if he might not have been from Denmark, he was almost certainly a leader of Danes.[[/note]] chieftain who had fought numerous campaigns against the French before finally being decisively defeated in battle in 911. Rollo agreed to be baptized and become a vassal to the French king, and in exchange received the lands that would become the Duchy of Normandy as a fiefdom. Although subordinate to France and its king, by the 11th century it was for all intents a powerful and autonomous state of its own, with the Duke of Normandy being a respected statesman. Throughout 11th century, the Dukes of Normandy would develop trade, military, and kinship ties with one of their nearest neighbors: the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of England.

It's during this period that William says Edward visited him, and gave him a verbal assurance that William would receive the throne of England after his death. Shortly after this Godwin came back with new supporters, regained his old power and ensured Edward was now under his thumb. Not that he got to enjoy it for long, because he died of a stroke in 1053.

The reason much detail from this period is unclear is that, from Harold's visit to William right up to the end of the Battle of Hastings, our sole primary historical source is Art/TheBayeuxTapestry: a giant 230ft (70m) embroidered strip of cloth found in Bayeux Cathedral, Normandy, probably commissioned (like the cathedral itself) in the immediate post-Conquest years by William's half-brother Bishop Odo. It should be noted that the tapestry features a comet, which appeared in the spring of 1066 and (as was commonplace at the time) was considered an ill omen for King Harold's reign. This comet, it would be discovered centuries later, was none other than Halley's Comet -- the most famous comet in our solar system.

The reason much detail from this period is unclear is that, from Harold's visit to William right up to the end of the Battle of Hastings, our sole primary historical source is Art/TheBayeuxTapestry: a giant 230ft (70m) embroidered strip of cloth found in Bayeux Cathedral, Normandy, probably commissioned (like the cathedral itself) in the immediate post-Conquest years by William's half-brother Bishop Odo.

* Videogame/CrusaderKingsIII also features the House of Normdany, with Fate of England bookmark focusing in particular on the Norman Conquest.

->''"I’m William the Conqueror.My enemies stood no chance. They call me the first English king. Although I come from France."''

The youngest son of William the Conqueror. William apparently recognized Henry's commanding tendencies from the beginning, and bequeathed him cash rather than land holdings, acknowledging that Henry would soon end up with everything anyway. Henry moved quickly to secure the treasury after his brother's death and was aided by Robert being far away, returning from a crusade. Among his arguments in favor of his accession to the English throne over Robert was "porphyrgeniture"--he argued that his claim was strongest since he was born to William I ''while he was King of England''. He granted a charter which would form the basis for future documents such as the Magna Carta, and undertook extensive legal and financial reforms during his reign.

In January 1066, Harold Godwinson was elected King of England by the Witan (a council of high ranking nobles and religious leaders), following the death of King Edward the Confessor of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWessex, who bore no children. The election result failed to meet with the approval of one William, Duke of Normandy, who claimed that Edward, [[ThickerThanWater his first cousin once-removed]] [[note]] William was a cousin of Edward’s through Edward’s mother Emma, who was William’s great-aunt[[/note]], had promised the throne to him several years earlier. In October of that same year, the then-Duke William added the Throne of England to his territories in what came to be known as the Norman Conquest, ending the era of [[UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons Anglo-Saxon]] dominance in that country and beginning a two hundred year period where England was ruled by Frenchmen. 1066 typically marks the Year Zero of 'modern' England: what is now the common starting place in history lessons to start learning about the monarchy, and the point where cultural customs, politics, economics, and the nation's language itself all changed swiftly and dramatically. The Norman dynasty lasted until 1154, where the King more closely identified himself as an Angevin "[[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet Plantagenet]]" monarch.

->''I’m William the Conqueror.My enemies stood no chance. They call me the first English king. Although I come from France.''

Count of Blois, nephew of Henry and grandson of William I, he had an elder brother who luckily did not want to be a contender to the throne, which made Stephen (''Etienne'') the closest male candidate. Proclaimed himself king upon Henry's death, claiming the latter had changed his mind about his intended heir, and was given the support of most of the barons in a peaceful start to the reign.

Initially, Robert recognized Henry's rule in exchange for a yearly tribute. But an exiled English noble, Robert of Bellême, tried to stir up further dissent. This led to Henty invading Normandy, and beating his brother at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106. Duke Robert was captured, and imprisoned in England until his death in 1134. Bellême would again try to forment rebellion with Duke Robert's son, William Clito, but was captured in England in 1112 and would also spend the rest of his life in prison.

It should also be noted that it was during Henry I's reign that he instituted the Exchequer, a table with a checkered cloth that was used to keep track of the royal finances. The earliest known use was during his reign, with continuous records existing from during Henry II's reign. It is the source of the Finance Minister of the United Kingdom[[note]]If you're American, that's essentially the Secretary of the Treasury[[/note]] being known as the "[[ArtifactTitle Chancellor of the Exchequer]]".

He was right to feel uneasy about this, and to explain why we now need to explore why he was so strongly supported as king. He had the support from the powerful nobles of Northumbria, after getting rid of a pest in 1065. The pest was Tostig Godwinson, Harold's own brother, who during his ten-year reign as Earl of Northumbria had basically antagonised everyone in his lands with his taxes, murders of dissenting families, usage of Danish mercenaries as enforcers, frequent [[SacredHospitality violations of the terms of the peace banner]], and general bad qualities. Knowing their support would be useful when the time came to claim the throne, and fearing civil war if he backed his brother, Harold supported the nobles, and Tostig was exiled, but now, a few weeks after Harold demobilized his army, Tostig had returned, bringing in tow a thousand Scottish and Flemish mercenaries (he fled with a large fortune to Flanders, and the Scottish king was a personal friend) as well as three hundred longships carrying an army of ten thousand HornyVikings, with the terrifying King of Norway Harald Hardrada coming to claim the throne through the line of Canute. The initially unenthusiastic Hardrada had been swayed by Tostig's pitch, and took England by surprise, butchering the outnumbered forces of Northumbria and Mercia mustered to meet him at the Battle of Fulford. Harold wasted no time, however. In a truly impressive feat of logistics, he force-marched from London to York, gathered his army as he marched and completely annihilated Tostig and Harald's forces at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, effectively ending the age of Viking raids on England.

* The House of Normandy is playable in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII''. William's ancestor Rollo exists as a landless courtier in Norway in 867 AD (as Hrolfr de Normandie, marshal to a Norse chief), and the two 1066 bookmarks bracket William's campaign for England. All three sides of the war are playable and there are achievements for succeeding as either Harald or William (as well as the little-known King Svend II of Denmark, who also had a claim but wasn't involved in the historical war).

Ultimately Matilda's quest to establish herself as the first ruling queen of England ended in failure (and the country would have to wait another 400 years for one), but she had the last laugh in the long run: her son, who would become Henry II, was made heir in 1153, ending the direct rule of the House of Normandy and ushering in UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet.

The youngest son of William the Conqueror. William apparently recognized Henry's commanding tendencies from the beginning, and bequeathed him cash rather than land holdings, acknowledging that Henry would soon end up with everything anyway. Henry moved quickly to secure the treasury after his brother's death and was aided by Robert being far away, returning from a crusade. Among his arguments in favor of his accession to the English throne over Rovert was "porphyrgeniture"--he argued that his claim was strongest since he was born to William I ''while he was King of England''. He granted a charter which would form the basis for future documents such as the Magna Carta, and undertook extensive legal and financial reforms during his reign.

Contemporaries of William raised concerns about a court dominated by homosexuality and effeminacy, and while during his reign William himself was never openly accused of homosexuality, in the decades after his death numerous medieval writers spoke of this and a few began to describe him as a "sodomite". Whilst it's not possible to state with certainty whether William was gay or not, he never took a wife or a mistress or fathered any children. For that reason, the throne necessarily passed to his younger brother, Henry...

The youngest son of William the Conqueror. William apparently recognized Henry's commanding tendencies from the beginning, and bequeathed him cash rather than land holdings, acknowledging that Henry would soon end up with everything anyway. Henry moved quickly to secure the treasury after his brother's death and was aided by Robert being far away, returning from a crusade. He granted a charter which would form the basis for future documents such as the Magna Carta, and undertook extensive legal and financial reforms during his reign.

It should also be noted that it was during Henry I's reign that he instituted the Exchequer, a table with a checkered cloth that was used to keep track of the royal finances. The earliest known use was during his reign, with continuous records existing from during Henry II's reign. It is the source of the Finance Minister[[note]]or, if you're American, the Secretary of the Treasury[[/note]] of the United Kingdom being known as the "[[ArtifactTitle Chancellor of the Exchequer]]".

Fun fact: Every [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates American President]] is descended from William the Conqueror--yes, even UsefulNotes/BarackObama (as well as 33% of people in the world with British ancestry).